Homemade Yogurt

After reading about Sarah’s homemade yogurt, I decided to dust off my own yogurt maker and make a batch. I began by heating 42 oz of skim milk in a large saucepan. Once the milk began to boil, I turned off the heat and let it cool to warm room temperature.

I poured the milk into a pitcher and added a packet of culture (you could also do it the old school way and add a cup of already made yogurt instead). Note: DO NOT mix the culture into very hot milk as the heat will kill the culture. The milk should be room temp. I stirred everything together and then divided the milk-culture mixture amongst the 7 glass containers.

Once the containers were situated in the yogurt maker, I plugged it in and turned it on. Skim milk usually takes about 7-8 hours to turn into yogurt. Low-fat and whole milk will take less time. It’s very important that the yogurt maker is not moved or disturbed during the incubation period. I usually turn the yogurt maker on right before I go to bed and then unplug it when I wake up.

Once you unplug the yogurt maker, carefully remove the glass jars, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before enjoying. Making your own yogurt IS a lot of work, but it’s very economical. For about $1 worth of milk, I was able to make seven 5 ounce jars of yogurt. I like to add fruit preserves and granola to my homemade yogurt, yum!